


Hanging by a Thread

by needles



Series: Bokuaka Detective drabbles [6]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:28:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28904154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/needles/pseuds/needles
Summary: Nothing like the prospect of losing something to make you realise just what it means to you...
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou
Series: Bokuaka Detective drabbles [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2116251
Comments: 2
Kudos: 36
Collections: My favorite haikyuu fics





	Hanging by a Thread

“Akaashi are you sure about this?” Bokuto looked worried as he strapped himself into the harness.

“Of course Bokuto san, stop fussing. I’ve abseiled many times. It’s necessary to reach the occupied levels in a number of ancient caves and there are many other sites located in caves part way up cliffs, Masada, Tenerife....”

“Ok, ok Akaashi; just be careful when you get down there, it looks pretty unstable to me.”

“I’m sure the ledge is nowhere near as parlous as it looks Bokuto san.”

“You really have to do this yourself?”

“Do you see any other qualified forensic anthropologists around here?”

He sighed and looked again over the edge of the cliff. The dizzying drop of several hundred feet to the crashing surf below made his head swim. About fifty feet below them on a narrow crumbling ledge he could just see the decomposed remains that they had come to recover. Bokuto pulled back, he must be insane letting his precious partner dangle over that like a spider on silk. 

“Ready.” Keiji said to the support team, giving them a thumbs-up. 

Bokuto watched with his heart in his mouth as he stepped confidently backwards out over the void. He crouched on the edge watching as Keiji bounced his way lightly down the cliff, ropes playing out as he went. He looked like a pro and Bokuto felt a little guilty for doubting his abilities. After all this time he should have known him better. It didn’t stop him holding his breath until Keiji reached the ledge though.

Keiji settled on the ledge and pulled on his gloves. The body was little more than skin and bone encrusted with salt, and dried hard. It had clearly been there for some time. He checked the basics; male, late teens, multiple fractures to the long bones and ribs, also a severe fracture of the right parietal bone, possibly cause of death. All consistent with a fall down the cliff. If the body hadn’t caught on the ledge it would have been smashed to pieces in the surf below. He signalled to the team and they lowered a gurney down for him to transfer the remains to.

Behind him he heard a rattling noise; he looked around and saw a small lump of rock falling to the sea. He shrugged and held his arm out to snag the gurney and pull it towards him. Painstakingly he transferred the remains piece by piece, trying to keep it as intact as possible. When he was done he scoured the rest of the small ledge for any other fragments or evidence. A few small pieces of bone and cloth were added to the pile.  
He called up and signalled that they could raise the body. As they started to haul he stood guiding it as far as possible to prevent it catching on overhanging rocks. He stood looking skywards as it continued its slow journey up the cliff. Behind him a few more rocks fell to the water but he didn’t even notice. 

The gurney was almost to the top. He took a step back to see more clearly and felt the ledge beneath his feet crumble to rubble. Instinctively he grabbed at his ropes and cried out over the crashing sound of the entire ledge as it collapsed into the Atlantic.

“Akaashi! Akaashi!” Bokuto cried over the sound of tumbling rock and waves. He grabbed frantically at the ropes hanging over the edge. His hand caught one and he pulled. It was slack. A cold chill pooled in his stomach and he pulled on the rope. It came up, about thirty or forty feet of it, followed by a frayed end. He stared at it blindly, disbelieving. Then a shout brought him back to reality. The climbing crew were leaning over the edge. He looked down and caught a glimpse of a swinging figure. Akaashi was still there.

For a few minutes he didn’t move and then he saw his arms working at something.

“What’s he doing? Why don’t you pull him up?” He shouted at the crew.

“He’s making his own way up on the safety line. He’s tying a couple of friction loops from the spare rope. If we haul on this rope it could shear on the broken rock like the other one. He’ll be fine, just wait.”

Bokuto shook his head and craned his neck again to see his partner, how could they be so calm? He could hear his blood pounding in his ears. Gradually he realised Akaashi was rising, slowly, painfully, but rising nonetheless. After what seemed like a lifetime but was in reality about half an hour he had almost reached the top. He could now see that he had two loops of spare rope tied to the safety line and was using them to push himself up, a few inches at a time.

He reached the top and a familiar large hand gripped his so tightly Keiji thought his phalanges would break. Bokuto and the crew leader pulled him up and onto the cliff top where he sat for several minutes getting his breath back. Bokuto sat beside him his arm round Keiji’s shoulders, his eyes examining him closely. There was a graze already turning purplish on his temple and his hands, beneath the remnants of his latex gloves, were scratched and bloody from his fall. 

He ran his fingers across Keiji’s forehead brushing his hair away from the graze. He flinched a little as Bokuto touched the bruise with his lips. “Oh Akaashi, what am I going to do with you? One day you are going to give me a heart attack.”

“I’m fine Bokuto san.”

“You could have been killed Akaashi.”

“I wasn’t though, so you can stop holding me now.”

“I don’t ever want to stop holding you Akaashi, and I realised while you were hanging down there that I don’t want to waste any more time telling you how I feel.”

“How you feel?”

“About you Akaashi.”

Keiji looked into his eyes, “How _do_ you feel Bokuto san?”

“I love you Akaashi,” and he pulled Keiji towards him pressing their lips together. Keiji tasted of salt from the sea air and dust from the cliffs and it was the sweetest thing he had ever tasted.


End file.
